Company Picnic
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Company Picnic

"Company Picnic" is the fifth season finale of the American comedy television series The Office and the 100th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 14, 2009. In the episode, Michael plans to win back his ex-girlfriend Holly at a Dunder Mifflin company picnic, while the rest of the Scranton office get involved in a competitive company volleyball tournament.

The episode was written by Paul Lieberstein and Jennifer Celotta, and directed by Ken Kwapis. It marked return appearances of former guest stars Amy Ryan as Holly Flax and Idris Elba as Charles Miner. Actress Jenna Fischer is not as talented a volleyball player as she is portrayed in the episode, so some of her scenes were modified with computer-generated imagery.

The scene in which Jim and Pam discover the pregnancy includes no dialogue, and is a homage to a similar scene in the original British version of The Office, where Tim Canterbury silently proclaims his love for Dawn Tinsley. The episode also features a sketch about the history of Dunder Mifflin which parodies the film Slumdog Millionaire.

"Company Picnic" received generally positive reviews, particularly for the return of Holly and the scene in which Jim discovers Pam is pregnant. According to Nielsen ratings, the episode was watched by 6.72 million viewers. It was the lowest-rated episode of the season and had the lowest original episode rating for The Office in two years, which reviewers said was especially surprising given that it was a season finale episode.

Employees arrive at the Dunder Mifflin company picnic, where Michael Scott plans to win back his ex-girlfriend Holly Flax, whom he has not seen since she was transferred back to Nashua. Holly arrives with her boyfriend A.J., who tells Michael the couple are designing a house together. CFO David Wallace allows Michael and Holly to do a presentation about the history of Dunder Mifflin, and the two spend time in the woods to come up with ideas. Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly run into Charles Miner for the first time since he left Scranton, and Charles is still short with Jim. Dwight Schrute brings his best friend, Rolf, who makes constant insults to Angela Martin for breaking Dwight's heart; Dwight tells Rolf to stop, much to Angela's surprise. The Scranton branch competes in the picnic's volleyball tournament, facing off against the other branches of Dunder Mifflin. They initially struggle until Pam reveals herself to be a very talented volleyball player. With her help, they reach the final round where they face the corporate head office.

Michael and Holly perform a skit that parodies Slumdog Millionaire (called "SlumDunder Mifflinaire"), presenting Dunder Mifflin trivia in the form of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, as well as acting out torture scenes featured in the film. Nobody except Stanley Hudson, finds their presentation amusing, but things take a turn for the worse when they reveal that the Buffalo branch, whose staff are hearing this announcement for the first time, will be closing in the near future because of the economic recession. After reluctantly confirming this news to the Buffalo staff, David berates Michael for revealing this as it was something David told to Michael in confidence. In his own defense, Michael insists he thought they already knew about it. As Michael and Holly talk about next year's presentation, he prepares to ask for her back but stops himself, deciding not to ruin the moment. As Holly leaves with A. J., Michael says he believes he will eventually be reunited with Holly, although potentially not for a long time—and he's fine with this because "I'm in no rush".

The Scranton branch faces off against the corporate branch, commenting that they deserve to lose for deciding to close down Buffalo. The game is close, and Pam ends up injuring her ankle, although she wants to continue. Seeing an opportunity to remove Scranton's best player from the game, Charles insists that Pam take a seat on the grounds of her injury being a company liability. Determined to beat corporate, Jim takes Pam to a local hospital to get an X-ray while Dwight stalls the game to give them time to get back. When the doctor calls Jim into the room for an update, the doctor informs Jim and Pam of some news that causes them to be ecstatic. Jim then calls Dwight to send in the substitute players.

The episode was written by Paul Lieberstein and Jennifer Celotta, and directed by Ken Kwapis. "Company Picnic" was the 100th overall episode of The Office, and show creator Greg Daniels said he was especially proud the series made it to that landmark because he felt it meant he did not disappoint Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who created the original British version of the show. Daniels said, "I remember interviewing with them seven years ago, and this (100th episode) was certainly the goal, so I'm very pleased that we got to 100 episodes in a strong fashion. I think the show is in a very good place right now." Steve Carell said he was especially pleased with the landmark because when the show began, people had doubts it would live up to the original series and were skeptical about its mockumentary style: "It's sort of remarkable, especially with this show because I don't think anybody felt it would go past the pilot. ... I think most everyone was kind of dubious about our chances of pulling it off." Likewise, Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and an Office executive producer, said, "It's a thrill that we got to 100 episodes, and probably incredibly surprising looking back at the process it took. But the reality is, we believed in it."

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